Test bank for fundamentals of organizational behaviour canadian edition 5th edition langton

When a sales manager attributes the poor performance of his or her sales agents to laziness, rather than to the complexity of the project and the innovative products of the competitor,

Test Bank for Fundamentals of Organizational

Behaviour Canadian Edition 5th Edition Langton

Multiple Choice Questions

David is difficult to work with Whenever he is successful, he takes full credit for what has happened Whenever he is unsuccessful, he attributes his failure to bad luck or to one

of his colleagues David is displaying

1 a fundamental attribution error.

2 b self-serving bias.

3 c consensus.

4 d distinctiveness.

5 e consistency.

Kyle does not like to work with people of a particular

ethnicity even before he has met them Kyle is exhibiting

Your company, Exceptional Business Products, has

expanded lately and just recently hired some 150 new

recruits Your department, where you are the direct sales manager, has hired approximately 30 of these new recruits You have had to quickly draw conclusions about the skill level of new recruits in order to make training decisions To

do so, you have considered each recruit’s level of

sociability You

1 a will misjudge the recruit.

2 b are using a personal bias.

3 c are displaying prejudice.

4 d are using the halo effect.

5 e are projecting on to the new recruits your own assumptions.

Peoples’ perceptions are influenced by the perceiver, the target, and the situation The perceiver factor comprises

The most important reason why managers need to know how

to measure personality is that research has shown that

personality tests

1 a are biased against minorities.

2 b can avoid stereotyping.

3 c are useful in hiring decisions.

4 d can lead to a reduction in perceptual errors

5 e screen out people with Machiavellian tendencies.

You are one of the managers at TRS Co Joan is a new

employee at your place of work Using your ability to

respond to individual differences between yourself and Joan

1 a is likely to result in perceptual errors.

2 b is likely to result in fewer perceptual errors.

3 c is a shortcut to judge Joan and will likely not be very effective.

4 d is only useful if done after time has elapsed, and you can assess some of Joan’s work.

5 e is likely to result in more perceptual errors, only initially, because of

assumptions.

Yvonne was bothered because many of her co-workers

considered her to be lazy As a result, she began to neglect her work responsibilities and spent most of her time making personal phone calls This is an example of

You are the recruiter for RESEARCH Inc., where your most recent task is to hire a research technician You have set up

an interview schedule to interview six applicants You notice that in your assessment of the candidates you have been comparing them to one another You are finding this to be an extremely long process and are not sure if this is very

effective You are

1 a using stereotyping.

2 b using contrast effects.

3 c using selective perception.

4 d using prejudice.

5 e using the halo effect.

Kerry was observing one of her underachieving employees, and was trying to decide whether her behaviour is caused by internal factors or external factors This is consistent with theory

1 a attribution

2 b selective perception

3 c motivational

4 d self-fulfilling prophecy

5 e fundamental attribution error

Ron was having a discussion with one of his colleagues as

to whether the rise in the Canadian dollar was good or bad, and found himself quickly overwhelmed with all of the

various arguments All he could remember after the

discussion was a few of them Ron was engaged in

A process by which individuals organize and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their

of applicants and the fast approaching deadline to hire

someone, you have decided to select and interview

candidates who appear to be quiet and introspective, given the activities listed on their resumé You are

1 a using stereotyping as the basis for your decision.

2 b using prejudice as the basis for your decision.

3 c using a shortcut that will likely be very effective in judging individual candidates.

4 d using self-serving bias.

5 e using the contrast effect.

When a sales manager attributes the poor performance of his or her sales agents to laziness, rather than to the

complexity of the project and the innovative products of the competitor, the sales manager is engaging in

1 a the fundamental attribution error.

2 b self-serving bias.

3 c selective perception.

4 d the halo effect.

5 e the contrast effect.

Pierre has a tendency to judge people without even knowing them by making generalizations about them based on the groups to which they belong Pierre is engaged in

1 a stereotyping.

2 b projection.

3 c contrast effect.

4 d risk management.

5 e the halo effect.

Natasha is often late for work Her manager, Eleanor, always attributes Natasha’s lateness to Natasha’s laziness and lack

of responsibility, and never to unforeseen circumstances like congested traffic Natasha thinks Eleanor

underestimates the traffic problem and overestimates any lack of responsibility that Natasha may have Eleanor is

talented her employees are and formulates her expectations

of them accordingly If she expects people to perform

exceedingly well, she puts more time and effort into

managing them, and gives them ample opportunity to

develop their skills and talents Angelina finds that such employees do indeed become some of the best performers Angelina’s actions are an example of

1 a prejudice.

2 b stereotyping.

3 c the contrast effect.

4 d the halo effect.

5 e a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Suppose a sales manager is unhappy with the performance

of her/his sales people and attributes this to laziness on their part Closer scrutiny of the real situation, however, shows that the sales manager has made a “fundamental attribution error.” This means that she/he has

1 a only considered superficial indicators.

2 b inadequately explored the job satisfaction of the sales people.

3 c is merely stereotyping employees.

4 d underestimated the effects of external factors relative to internal factors.

5 e ignored her/his responsibility in the entire process of not holding workers accountable.

You are the Research Department head and manager for RESEARCH Inc You have been interviewing candidates with the HR manager all week, and must now make a decision about which one of the candidates to hire You would like to hire the candidate who graduated from the same university

as yourself, has an interest in golfing, just as you do, and who you believe is trustworthy, just as you are You are

1 a using projection.

2 b using the contrast effects.

3 c using the halo effect.

4 d using stereotyping.

5 e using selective perception.

The three rules used to determine whether or not behaviour

is internally or externally caused are

1 a distinctiveness, consensus, and consistency.

2 b selective perception, consensus, and consistency.

3 c heredity, environmental factors, and personality.

4 d self-serving bias, heredity, and personality.

5 e distinctiveness, heredity, and consistency.

Joseph is 54 years old and has been looking for work for 16 months He is sure that he has been unable to obtain work because younger employees are more appealing to

employers If true, this is an example of

1 a the fundamental attribution error.

Samir is aware that he has some weaknesses, but he

typically tries to make himself feel better by convincing himself that others have the same weaknesses Samir is engaged in

1 a the halo effect.

university graduates who also participated extensively in athletics are usually ambitious and hardworking, compared with university students who did not If she decides to

interview only university grads who were athletes, she is likely engaging in

Terry is a new salesman who has just been assigned to the northwest branch of his company Shortly after his

appointment to his new position, sales for his territory

jumped significantly Terry’s appointment and the increase

in sales were not related, but people tended to see the two occurrences as related The timing of Terry’s appointment and the soon-after increase in sales is an example of

1 a how a target’s characteristics can affect what is perceived.

2 b how personal characteristics of the perceiver influences how events are

interpreted.

3 c how expectations can distort our perceptions.

4 d how past experiences can distort our perceptions.

5 e how difficult it is to perceive and interpret what others do.

True - False Questions

Nadia is sociable, talkative, assertive, and has always

maintained good working relationships with those at work It

is likely that Nadia’s personality is characterized as

extraversion

1 True

2 False

Perceptions are not likely to vary cross-culturally since

perceptions are a function of the target, situation, and

perceiver, regardless of the culture

1 True

2 False

The terms self-fulfilling prophecy and Pygmalion effect have evolved to characterize the fact that people’s expectations determine their behaviour

1 True

2 False

Type B personalities feel no need to display or discuss their achievements unless such exposure is demanded by the situation

1 True

2 False

Emotional labour is an employee’s expression of

organizationally desired emotions while at work

Because targets are not looked at in isolation, the

relationship of a target to its background influences

perception

1 True

2 False

Consensus considers how an individual’s behaviour

compares with that of others in a different situation

1 True

The self-serving bias would suggest that feedback provided

to employees in performance reviews is very likely to be distorted by the recipients

Everett is an individual with a Type B personality Everett’s career will likely be very progressive because Type B

personality characteristics are more highly prized by the North American culture than personality Type A

characteristics

1 True

2 False

Perception is the process by which individuals select,

organize, and interpret their sensory impressions in order to give meaning to their environment

1 True

2 False

Emotional stability is a personality dimension that influences

a person’s ability to withstand stress

Sean has a proactive personality He will likely achieve

career success because he will select, create, and influence work situations to his favour, develop the right contacts in higher places, and seek out job and organizational

information

1 True

2 False

Janet keeps an emotional distance from her co-workers and believes that ends can justify the means Janet would rate high in Machiavellianism

1 True

2 False

Narcissism describes a person who has a grandiose sense

of self-importance, requires excessive admiration, has a sense of entitlement, and is arrogant

1 True

2 False

Ron is a manager at RRE Resources Inc., where he has high expectations of the employees he manages To ensure his employees are successful at achieving the expected high- performance level, Ron treats his employees in a way that supports his expectations Research shows that it is highly likely that the Ron’s expectations will become reality

2 False

Individuals who are open to new experiences tend to be

creative, flexible, curious, and artistic

1 True

2 False

Openness to experience is a personality dimension that

characterizes someone in terms of how agreeable and

trusting they are

1 True

2 False

When making a perceptual shortcut of our environment, it serves no purpose to stereotype behaviour; therefore, such shortcuts should be eliminated

Free Text Questions

Describe in detail the Big Five dimensions of personality and how each one influences workplace behaviour Give specific examples to illustrate your answer.

Answer Given

- Extraversion: This dimension captures a person’s comfort level with relationships Extraverts tend to be gregarious, assertive, and sociable Introverts tend to be

reserved, timid, and quiet; - Agreeableness: This dimension refers to how readily a person will go along with others Highly agreeable people are cooperative, warm, and trusting People who score low on agreeableness are cold, disagreeable, and

antagonistic; - Conscientiousness: This dimension is a measure of a person’s

reliability A highly conscientious person is responsible, organized, dependable, and persistent Those who score low on this dimension are easily distracted,

disorganized, and unreliable; - Emotional stability: This dimension—often labelled by its converse, neuroticism—taps into a person’s ability to withstand stress People with positive emotional stability tend to be calm, self-confident, and secure Those with high negative scores tend to be nervous, anxious, depressed, and insecure; - Openness to experience: The final dimension addresses a person’s range of

interests and fascination with novelty Extremely open people are creative, curious, and artistically sensitive Those at the other end of the openness category are

conventional and find comfort in the familiar; - See Exhibit 2-5, How the Big Five Traits Influence OB (Examples can be drawn from the text, class discussion,

students’ own experiences, the Internet, newspapers such as the Globe and

Mail, )

Compare and contrast the characteristics and behavioural traits found in Type A and Type B personalities, their

application in the workplace, and their relationship to

leadership in organizations Provide specific examples of each whenever possible in your answer.

Answer Given

- Type A’s: are always moving, walking and eating rapidly; feel impatient with the rate

at which most events take place; strive to think or do two or more things at once; cannot cope with leisure time; are obsessed with numbers, measuring their success

in terms of how many or how much of everything they acquire; - Type B’s: never suffer from a sense of time urgency with its accompanying impatience; feel no need

to display or discuss either their achievements or accomplishments unless such exposure is demanded by the situation; play for fun and relaxation, rather than to exhibit their superiority at any cost; can relax without guilt (Examples can be drawn from the text, class discussion, students’ own experiences, the Internet, newspapers such as the Globe and Mail, )

What is perception? Describe in detail the three factors that influence perception Give specific examples to illustrate your answers.

Answer Given

The Perceiver: - When an individual (“the perceiver”) looks at a target and attempts

to interpret what he or she sees, that interpretation is heavily influenced by the

perceiver’s personal characteristics Personal characteristics that affect perception include a person’s attitudes, personality, motives, interests, past experiences, and expectations For instance, if you expect police officers to be authoritative, young people to be lazy, or individuals holding public office to be unscrupulous, you may perceive them as such, regardless of their actual traits Our attitudes, motives,

interests, and past experiences all shape the way we perceive an event The Target:

- A target’s characteristics can affect what is perceived Loud people are more likely

to be noticed in a group than are quiet ones So, too, are extremely attractive or unattractive individuals Novelty, motion, sound, size, and other attributes of a target shape the way we see it Because targets are not looked at in isolation, the

relationship of a target to its background influences perception For instance, people who are female, black, or members of any other clearly distinguishable group will tend to be perceived as similar not only in physical terms but in other unrelated characteristics as well The Situation: - The context in which we see objects or events

is also important The time at which we see an object or event can influence

attention, as can location, light, heat, or any number of situational factors For

example, at a nightclub on Saturday night, you may not notice a young guest

“dressed to the nines.” Yet that same person so attired for your Monday morning